


Flowering and Painful

by LunakiShirayu



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Based on a bunch of comics, Bill Cipher is a Jerk, Bill Cipher/Dipper Pines Fluff, Cipher Brothers, Eventually they will get together, F/M, Hanahaki Disease, Hanahaki!Gideon, Human Bill Cipher, I Don't Even Know, Just Roll With It, M/M, Minor Pacifica Northwest/Mabel Pines, Oblivious Mabel Pines, Older Dipper Pines, One-Sided Attraction, Pining, Slow Burn, Unrequited Gideon Gleeful/Mabel Pines, Will Cipher - Freeform, im so bad at this, kill cipher - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-23
Updated: 2020-05-09
Packaged: 2021-02-22 22:23:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,115
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23801371
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LunakiShirayu/pseuds/LunakiShirayu
Summary: "At first, I thought I was being obsessive all over again.""But even thinking of her can tear my lungs to pieces."Five years after Weirdmageddon, Mabel and Dipper move back to Gravity Falls. A lot of things have changed. There's a new family in town who made it known that they're not people to be messed with. There's a new and rising magician in town. Or is it just an old dog with new tricks?
Relationships: Bill Cipher/Dipper Pines, Gideon Gleeful/Mabel Pines
Comments: 8
Kudos: 47





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So I'm basing this off of various artworks done by tanosan96. Honestly, I'm in love with her work and I feel like it would be really cool to write and combine some of her works into a fanfic. This is my first fic on AO3, so just bear with me pleaase. 
> 
> BTW here is the artist's tumblr blog. PLEASE check her out, she's amazing!  
> https://tanosan96.tumblr.com/

"Dip-dop! C'mon hurry up!"

"Jeez, wait a minute! Ow! Mabel!" 

An exasperated Mabel had thrown a plastic figure of some sort at her twin, who was struggling to keep his balance as he trudged up the stairs, his arms laden with four or five stacked boxes. Sunlight shone through the windows and the trill of birds hummed thorugh the air. When he had reached the top of the stairs, Dipper set down the boxes to the side, where they were accompanied by a rather large amount of other overstuffed cardboard comrades. 

It had been five years since the two had last set foot in Gravity Falls. Originally, they had planned to make the trip back every year, but other things had interrupted that. So far, in the three hours that he and Mabel had spent, everything had looked just as it always had.

“Finally! I swear, you’re so slow, Dipper!” Mabel plopped down on one of the beds, and looked the watch on her wrist, which had a bright pink smiley face as the background. “Let’s get this all unpacked in four hours, nineteen minutes, and thirty seconds….starting now!”

She raced to the first box and quickly started unpacking, shoving various items of clothes in the shelves and drawers. Other items she tossed onto her bed and slowly, the pile grew and grew. Dipper stood there for a minute before rushing in.

“Mabel! You’re making a mess! Mabel, slow down for a second!” He gently took her hands. “What’s the big rush?”

“Well, Pacifica invited me to go with her to this show and apparently there’s some new hotshot magician and Candy and Grenda are supposed to do an act there too and they say the magician guy is suuuper hot and I have to meet Pacifica at the theater at 7:00 and it’s already 3:00!” His ecstatic twin rambled on and on about her plans. 

“Okay, okay! It’s fine, we can finish this before that. And anything that you don’t finish tonight, we can always continue tomorrow. We. Have. Time. Mabel,” Dipper turned away and began, at a moderate pace, to sort through and unpack his own boxes.

The hours passed and the Pines twins went through their boxes, sprinkled with laughter, teasing and bickering. Mabel checked her watch once more and her eyes widened.

“Crap! I’m gonna be late! Late!” She quickly grabbed her phone and bag. And, in a flash, she was out the door. Dipper looked back down at the rest of the unpacked boxes. 

“Well, guess I’ll just do the rest.”

========================================================================  
“Pacifica! Pacifica! Over here! Sorry I’m late! I lost track of time!” Mabel ran over to where her once-nemesis was waiting at the entrance of the theater. The other girl looked up, her blonde hair swishing elegantly as it compensated for its anchor’s new position. Pacifica almost did a double take. 

Mabel had changed a lot. Her long hair that used to be let down was now restrained lightly in a braid that reached all the way down to her hips. Gone was the eccentric girl with braces and homemade chunky knitted sweaters. Well, okay, maybe she was still wearing a sweater, but at least it wasn’t the monstrosities that Mabel had worn all the time when she last visited Gravity Falls five years ago. But at least it was in a fashionable style where it hung in a beguiling way off of her shoulders. This red sweater was accompanied by a pair of jean shorts, knee high socks, and red converse. Overall, Pacifica had to admit… her once-nemesis looked almost good enough to be on par with herself. 

“It’s fine. These peasants are never on time for anything. We’ll be like thirty minutes early.” And with that Pacifica turned around and motioned for Mabel to follow her.

“Okidoki.” Mabel shrugged and followed the other girl into the theater.


	2. The Magician

When they had sat down, Mabel started the conversation up again. 

“So who’s the new magician dude? Candy and Grenda say he’s super hot!” Mabel turned to the other girl.

“How should I know? It’s a variety show so there are a bunch of these people performing. Those lowlifes don’t put the names of the program on the list.”

“Well, Candy and Grenda are one of the acts. I know that for sure! They told me so!”

“Duh. Why else would I bring you? I thought the whole reason you wanted to see this show is because you wanted to see your friends perform or whatever they’re going to do on that stage,” Pacifica retorted.

“Wait. I thought you said you didn’t want to waste the extra ticket that you got.”

“Shut up. The show is starting.”  
========================================================================

Meanwhile, Dipper had just finished unpacking his portion of the boxes. He leaned against the side of his bed, exhausted. 

“Hey, kid,” Stanley Pines poked his head into the room. “You done?”

“Yeah,” He replied, letting his head sag back. “Was there something you needed?”  
“Me? Nah, it’s just that it’s been five years since I last saw you two and now…” Stan drifted off. “... Well, you and Mabel are all grown up. But I gotta say, kid, you put a little bit more muscle on compared to those weak noodle arms you had five years ago.”

“Hey!” Dipper protested. His head snapped up.

“What?! It’s true!” His grunkle snapped back.

“Still, but you make it sound like I was a nerdy little boy.” He ran his hands thorugh his hair. 

“Well, you were!”

“Grunkle Stan!”  
========================================================================

After the lights dimmed and the spokesperson announced the first act, there were singers, dancers, and all sorts of other things. Mabel eagerly clapped for all of them, while Pacifica critiqued every single act. It turned out that Candy and Grenda did some weird sort of acrobatics act, which was quite awkward to say the least. 

“Ya know, I’m actually having a good time right now,” Mabel whispered to Pacifica. “Thanks for bringing me along.”

“I told you I just had an extra ticket!” Pacifica snapped. And then, in a softer tone, “Well, that’s good to hear.”

“And now for the final performance of the night!”

“Ugh, finally. All of those losers before the real thing. I honestly hope this magician is legit,” Pacifica groaned. 

“C’mon Pacifica! Everyone did great on that stage tonight!” Mabel cheered, always looking on the bright side.

“We have a very special guest! He used to be a native around here before going international!”

“No way! Really?!” Mabel turned to Pacifica. “Did you know about this?”

The other girl shook her head.

“Please welcome, the Master of the Tent of Telepathy!”  
A blonde and brown head shot up. They’re eyes widened.

“Wait, what?!” “No way!”

“Gideon Gleeful!”

The spotlight shone down on a cloaked figure. 

Then, a gust of wind swept off the hood of the cloak to reveal a tall young man in a baby blue coat. 

His eyes gleamed a brunnera blue and his hair shone a brilliant white in the bright light. 

He swept an arm out to the side and suddenly, cards flew everywhere.

When he brought his hands close together, the cards swooped into a neat deck onto his palm. He began levitating and shuffling them, and the audience ‘oohed’ and ‘aahed’.

“No way. There’s no way that’s Gideon,” Pacifica said. “Gideon?! ‘Lil’ ol’ me’, southern accent, and oh-so-adorable dances. No way!” 

Mabel just stared. 

And then, this Gideon flung the cards up into the air. 

But, now, they weren’t cards anymore. The cards had been magically replaced by a pair of porcelain white turtle doves.

The pair circled around him once, and then one flew into the crowd. The other landed on the young magician’s arm. 

“Mabel!” Pacifica whisper-yelled. “Watch out! Eek!”

Mabel started just in time to jerk back from the dove that flew towards her. However, it seemed that the bird had other plans. It circled back around and landed on Mabel’s arm.

Gideon looked up to where the other dove had flown.

Everything else turned white and faded into the background. 

Soft brown eyes met crystal blue.

“Mabel.”


	3. Dipper Meets the Ciphers

It was 10:00 already. Mabel still hadn’t returned from her outing with Pacifica. Well, it wasn’t as if Mabel had never stayed out before. But, Dipper was getting restless. Grabbing his keys, he headed out for the supermarket. 

Walking during the nighttime was a rather peaceful thing, now that he thought about it. It was relatively quiet at this time, with the occasional racket from a group of teenagers passing by. Reaching the supermarket, Dipper quickly slipped inside. He immediately headed for the snacks aisle grabbing a few bags of chips, and spotted the ice-cream refrigerators. 

“Mabel will probably be hungry when she gets home.” Grabbing a tub of chocolate ice cream, Dipper strolled towards the register. Setting the items down on the counter, he startled when a familiar voice interrupted his thoughts. 

“Well, look who finally got taller.” Dipper looked up to see Robbie glaring at him. The other guy had clearly not changed at all, with his long bangs and stubbly chin. 

“Oh, hey, Robbie. How are things --heh-- going?” Dipper anxiously scratched the back of his neck, clearly not wanting to really have small talk with the other.

“Nothing much,” Robbie replied, ringing up all of his items. “That’ll be $11.20.” 

Dipper handed over the amount, grabbed the bag containing his food for the night, and bolted out the door. He was walking so fast that he didn’t notice the sign pole.

BONG!

“Ow, fuck!” Dipper rubbed his forehead with one hand. He glared at the sign pole for a few seconds.

“Pfffttt. Look at that loser. Running into a signpole.” A vaguely familiar obnoxious voice transitioned to barely restrained chuckles to full out cackling. Dipper turned around to see two men leaning against the wall. The one who was cackling had a tan complexion and straw blonde hair with black roots. The other looked almost the same except with blue hair. 

“Are you done?” The blue-haired guy asked his companion. Turning to Dipper, he strode over and offered a water bottle to the brunette. “Sorry about my brother. He’s supposed to be the older one, but he still acts like a child.”

“Hey! I heard that!” Ignoring his brother, the blue-haired man held out his hand. Dipper took it, shaking it hesitantly.

“The name’s Will. Will Cipher.” Dipper froze.

“I’m Dipper. Dipper Pines.” He squeaked out. There’s no way, right?

“That blithering buffoon over there is Bill.” He pointed to the blonde, who waved sheepishly. 

“Hey, bros! You still out here?” A red-haired copycat of Will in a black leather jacket came out of the market. “Oh, who’s this?”

“This is Dipper. Dipper, this is my other older brother, Kill. Weird name, I know. But I promise he’s harmless.” Will introduced, and then, stage whispering, “He’s just a dumb idiot with a potty mouth.”

“Um, yeah, okay.” Dipper just stood there. His mind was racing. “So, are you guys new in town or something? I’ve never seen you guys around before…”

“We moved here about a month ago.” Bill stated. And then he started to walk away. The other two watched their brother for a second, shrugged, and followed after him. Will turned to wave at Dipper.

“Nice meeting you Dipper,” he called over his shoulder. “See you around.”

“Yeah…” Dipper waved back blankly. Then he began his own walk back to the Mystery Shack. There was no way. Cipher? Bill Cipher? With doppelgangers? If they were the real thing, this could be a serious catastrophe. If they all had the same powers the floating yellow Illuminati had, this was extremely bad. Just thinking about another Weirdmageddon gave him the chills. He had to tell Mabel. He had to tell the Grunkles too. This was just way too much for him. Dipper ran the rest of the way home, the thoughts of the three brothers circling in his mind.


	4. An Unexepected Morning

“Dipper, wake up! Dipper!”

Dipper sat straight up in bed, smacking Mabel right on her forehead.

“Ow!” Mabel rubbed her forehead. 

“Oh my god! Sorry, I didn’t mean to--” Dipper rubbed his own forehead in return. “What time did you get home last night?”

“Ummm, well you see… The girls and I kinda got carried away last night, so I didn’t get back till like 3 am….” Mabel fidgeted for a minute as Dipper scrutinized her. 

“Well, let’s just have breakfast. I’m starving,” continued Mabel, as if nothing had happened. Shrugging, Dipper swung his legs to the side of the bed. As long as nothing bad had happened, he was fine with it. 

Trudging down the stairs, he was met with the scent of slightly burnt waffles and coffee floating through the air. Both of the Grunkles were seated at the table, while Mabel was peering at the waffle iron from all the possible angles. Dipper pulled a chair out and sat down with the rest of his family, yawning. A plate full of steaming waffles was plopped in front of him on the table.

“Here you go,” sang Mabel. She twirled across the kitchen and proceeded to hand the grunkles their shares of the waffles as well prepare herself a plate. Breakfast passed in a chatter of giggles, chuckles, and anecdotes of the day before. 

“Dipper, what about you? Anything interesting happen yesterday?” Ford turned to him, a quizzical look in his eyes. Dipper thought back to the day before…

“Oh my god! How could I forget! There were these three brothers that I met at the supermarket last night. One of them started laughing at me because I ran into a sign pole--”

“Typical Dipper,” grunted Stan.

“--and then the other one apologized for him. But, get this, they all looked almost exactly the same except for their hair colors.” Dipper paused, then remembered their names.

“I don’t know if this is a coincidence or not, but their names were Kill, Bill, and Will Cipher.”

Ford dropped his fork. Stan choked on the chunk of waffle he tried to swallow. Mabel, classic Mabel, spewed her juice to the side. All three looked at Dipper in astonishment. 

“There’s no way it’s actually him right?” Mabel asked Ford.

“No, there shouldn’t be, but---”

“Yeah, I ain’t losing my memories again for a floating triangle.” Stan leaned back in his chair. 

“--there’s always a slim possibility that he found a way to bring himself back…” Ford continued to ramble on about possibilities and probabilities.  
“Well, I mean there was that thing with the pretty salamander….. I think it said something about ‘a different form, different time’ or something like that? I dunno.” Mabel commented, seemingly unconcerned about the possible danger. 

“Different form… hmm, yeah, that could----” Dipper started to say.

At that moment, the doorbell rang.

“I’ll get it!” called Mabel as she ran down the hallway. She opened the door to find a blue-haired boy with piercing blue eyes. She had to admit, he was super cute. The boy had his arms wrapped around the necks of two other boys, one blonde and one red-haired. He smiled at her, and she felt the breath leave her lungs.

“Hey, is Dipper home? I’ve got a punishment to deliver for these two.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, I know I tagged this as Mabel x Gideon, but just bear with me... it's for plot purposes.


	5. Here We Go

“I’m sorry? Dipper? You know Dipper? Uh--just wait here-- make yourself comfortable,” Mabel stuttered. Then she promptly turned and ran.

“Dipper! Dip-dop? There’s a handsome guy and his doppelgangers looking for you!” 

Her brother poked his head out into the hallway, a confused look on his face. 

“What are you talking about? Doppelgang--” He stopped, spotting the primary color trio in the doorway. “Oh-uh, hey guys. What are you doing here?”

“I heard that your Grunkle had a habit of turning some of his workers into attractions for the Shack. Does he still do that?” Will tightened his semi-chokeholds on his brothers. “ ‘Cause if so, I got two eager workers for him.”

“Um, I’m not sure if---” Dipper began.

“Sure, kids! Whatcha got?” It seemed that even after all this time, Grunkle Stan was always down for making money off of attractions, as he zipped into the room faster than Dipper crashing into the ceiling while testing another one of Ford’s experiments.

“Wait, for real? Will, you’re not serious?” The blonde asked the blue-haired one, whose name Mabel now knew. 

“Yeah, c’mon, bro. We didn’t mean to be loud!” The red haired one tried to turn his face upwards to face his brother, but Will was apparently an expert at locking annoying brothers in place, and the red haired boy’s attempts were to no avail.

“Am I allowed to know what the two of you did to deserve punishment?” Dipper asked.

“Nope.” 

“Not a chance.”

“They had an all out swearing match while I was trying to study,” Will replied, rolling his eyes. He finally released his brothers. “Introduce yourselves, then I’m out of here. I gotta finish up an essay.”

“Kill Cipher,” the red haired stated.

“Bill Cipher,” followed the blonde. 

The entire Pines family froze for a second. And then, it was gone, replaced by Grunkle Stan ushering the two older Ciphers towards the back of the Shack, gleefully excited for his new acts. 

“Well, I’m off. Be sure to torture them.” Will winked. 

However, before he could fully walk out the door, Mabel called out to him.

“Um, wait a sec! I’m going out too, so I’ll walk with you!” Slipping her shoes on, Mabel ran after him. When she had caught up to him, she took the time to observe the face that she had thought was so very cute. 

Will’s features were very angular, with a sharp jaw and high cheekbones. His tan, sunkissed skin was dotted with a few, intermittently spread along the tops of his cheeks and around the corners of his eyes. His hair, it seemed, was black at the roots and progressed from a deep cobalt blue to the lightest of sky blue at the very tips. 

“So where are you headed to?” Will asked. 

“Um, well.” She clearly hadn’t thought this out enough. “I’m heading to Greasy’s for that new special they have.”

“I’m headed there too. It seems like it’s the only place with decent food around here. And I need it, those two idiots eat up all the food in the house, and my brain needs nutrition.” Will rubbed his forehead, and shouldered the navy blue bookbag that Mabel had just noticed.

When they reached the diner, Will pulled the door open.

“Ladies first?”  
“Wow, such a gentleman,” Mabel replied as she sauntered in.

They had a wonderful time, at least in Mabel’s opinion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ugghhhh.... my fingers won't cooperate with me!! sorry for the short chapter.


End file.
